The omission of a patient to keep up to a medication prescribed by a doctor might be the reason for an unsuccessful treatment e.g. for cronical deseases. With a desease as e.g. asthma, where a continous medication program is necessary, it is especially important that the medication is performed in a prescribed way. Investigations have proven that between 30 and 50% of the patients take medicines irregularly and incorrect when they take the medicines themselves, which fact often is not discovered by the doctor in charge. The difficulty of recording how well the patient follows the prescriptions for the medication results in an unsatisfactory security in the evaluation of clinical tests.
One type of control systems for the medication of patients, used today, the so called MEMS.RTM. system, comprises different types of ordinary standard medicines containers, which are provided with microprocessors, which record date and moment for each opening and closing of the containers.
Another known control system, called Nebulizer Chronolog.RTM., consists of a small portable device, in which is contained a standard aerosol container. At each release of an aerosol dose, a contact device is actuated, whereby an electronical memory unit stores date and moment for each dosage fed out.
For a patient inhaling his medicine to receive an acceptable dosage to the lungs, however, it is necessary that the release of an aerosol dosage is coordinated with the inhalation of the patient. When using a powder inhaler device, the inhalation flow must reach a "critical flow" to make the powder dose follow the airflow and for the formation of a favourable particle picture, which can reach far enough down into the lungs.
The above disclosed known systems used today record the moment for each event when a medicine package is opened or each time a medicine dose is released, but these known systems lack the possibility of detecting if and when a satisfactory medication has been performed of the patient. With these systems one has not been able to receive a confirmation of that the patient really takes his dose and that the patient takes his dose in the prescribed way in order to get a medical effect.